SAN FRANCISCO / Homeless count sound, analysis finds

The tally taken of San Francisco's homeless people in January was done about as well as it could be, contrary to criticisms that it produced an undercount, according to an analysis done for the Board of Supervisors.

Counting homeless people in places such as streets, shelters and parks throughout San Francisco or any other is going to produce inaccuracies because the population is so hard to pin down, said the report by the board's Office of the Legislative Analyst. But given that, "the city's count methodology is basically sound," said the report released Friday.

The analysis was ordered by the Board of Supervisors last year, shortly after the count showed the homeless population had dropped 28 percent to 6,248 since 2002. Critics, including the Coalition on Homelessness, had said the counters weren't thorough enough.